Type I Protective Energy Barrier
The Type I Protective Energy Barrier was a type of energy shield used by The Royal Allegiance during the Swarm War. Introduction While there were several types of protective barriers used by the Allegiance, none were more widespread than the Type I, the most basic and arguably the most powerful. While similar to shielding devices used by the Covenant, and, in the latter part of the 2600s, the UNSC, Allegiance shielding was often far superior, not due to any huge technological advances, but simply due to the massive energy generators inside the warships and vehicles that could provide the shields with massive amounts of energy. Usage The shield was often used as the first line of defence for any vehicle, warship or structure utilising it. Most widely used on armoured vehicles and warships, the shield provided a versatile and powerful defensive option, being heavily relied on alongside armour. As the most widespread shield type, it was used in nearly every way and scale- from shield penetrating bullets to planetary shields. The most common projection type of this shield was an ovular 'bubble' which encapsulated the vehicle or warship. This maximised the power of the shield by minimising surface area. This provided a strong defence from long and medium range atacks, closer ranged attacks, for example fighters or infantry, could penetrate this field and attack from inside. Usually a secondary generator was used to counter this problem, providing close range protection whilst also improving structural integrity. This shield was contoured to the exact shape of the hull, though projected a few molecules underneath it. The field could be then extended outwards, increasing the structural integrity by several times. Technical Details The shield was projected by a generator usually located deep inside the protective field. The shield took the form of an energy that partly absorbed, partly deflected and partly dissipated the energy it was struck by, mainly kinetic (bullets and MAC slugs), chemical (explosive weapons) or other forms of energy (directed energy weapons). The field's strength and integrity was almost directly proportional to its power source; a stronger power source could maintain a bigger and more resilient shield. Unlike the shields of the Sangheili and other races, Allegiance shields were operated by creating layers of energetic distortion containing a high concentration of gravitons around the ship. This was several hundred times stronger than more conventional methods and was far more efficient at dissipating highly focused energy or kinetic impacts. In addition, graviton-based shields were invulnerable to ionised weaponry unlike conventional models. Examples *Strategic Instruments DFX225 Shield Generator- A compact but powerful shield generator used on more advanced armoured vehicles such as the M46P Atlas Main Battle Tank and M47P Warden Light Tank. It provided protection against up to 750 gigajoules of bombardment within one minute. * Avalon Orbital DWX/S 9012 Shield Generator- A very powerful shield generator designed for protecting warships and large ground bases. In terms of warship shielding, it was not especially powerful, but very power efficient, meaning a better protection for the same amount of power. Notable users of this device were the Triton-class Heavy Destroyer and Celestia-class Assault Ship, which employed four and seven in unison respectively to provide protection. Each generator provided regenerative protection against around 116,650,000 terajoules of bombardment in one second.